Mobile to welcome Distinguished Young Women on Sunday

MOBILE, Alabama -- Fifty young women from around the nation are flying into Mobile on Sunday, June 15 to be welcomed at an arrival ceremony put on by Distinguished Young Women organizers.

The welcome ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at Mobile Regional Airport is open to members of the public.

"We would love to entertain the Mobile community at the arrival ceremony," said Pam Patterson, interim executive director for Distinguished Young Women. "It has such an impact on the participants when they arrive, to see how the Mobile community supports them. It makes all of them feel very special."

Patterson also encouraged everyone in the community to take the chance to get to know the participants.

"At any of our public events, the girls enjoy seeing people there," she said. "We find that over and over people in the community will identify with a particular girl; they will begin to follow that girl. We're doing a lot of social media this year, so we want the Mobile community and the girls' hometowns to follow them on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook."

For Megan Gunter, who joined Distinguished Young Women as the marketing and communications director back in September, this arrival ceremony will be a new and exciting experience.

"I am excited for the arrival ceremony because this is going to be my first national finals event and I can't wait to see what it is truly about," she said. "I have heard it is such a fun experience because it is our first time to meet the girls. We have come to know them on paper, so to speak, so I can't wait to meet them in person."

In past years, the welcoming crowd has included host families, Azalea Trail Maids, Girl Scouts, cheerleaders, ROTC students and Distinguished Young Women sponsors.

After the arrival ceremony, the Distinguished Young Women will head out into the community for service events with the Girl Scouts and the Junior League of Mobile, and light-hearted fun like the annual oyster-eating contest at Wintzell's Oyster House.

The schedule for this year's finals night includes: Community Night on Wednesday, June 25; first preliminary ceremony on Thursday, June 26; second preliminary ceremony on Friday, June 27; finals night on Saturday, June 28.

Community Night is a particularly exciting part of Distinguished Young Women, according to Patterson.

"We really do a lot to involve the community of Mobile in that," she said. "We bring the children on stage and they get to dance with the Distinguished Young Women -- they get to feel like they're part of the show."

Tickets are $5 for Community Night, $22 each for the preliminary ceremonies, and $38.50 for finals night. A three-night bundle of tickets for both the preliminaries and finals night is also available for $82.50. These may be purchased from Valerie Shantazio by calling 251-438-3621 or emailing Valerie@DistinguishedYW.org.